Putin agrees to consider election reforms, after rocky campaigns in Moscow

In a meeting with Communist Party leader Gennady Zyuganov on Tuesday, Vladimir Putin agreed to consider reforms to Russia’s election laws. The president said officials need to look at how the political system’s “existing tools operate in real life,” in order to determine where improvements are needed “for the benefit of Russia’s people.”

Election commissions in Moscow refused to register dozens of independent candidates in City Duma elections held on September 8, invalidating large numbers of signatures endorsing their candidacy, which led to the capital’s largest protests in roughly seven years.

On election day, three Moscow precincts tested a new Internet voting system. In each of these races, the candidates with mayoral support received significantly more votes online than at physical polling stations.